Spain Celebrates and Recreates its Social Sector

From Thursday, January 12 to Sunday, January 15, was held in Loyola the meeting of the Jesuit social sector of the Province of Spain, entitled “Sintonizando” (Tuning in). A space that is held again after more than 12 years since the last edition in Los Negrales 2009. The main objectives of the meeting are that all the persons and entities that are part of it should recognize themselves as a united apostolic body, dreaming of horizons to look to the future together, and to promote and update the mission of the social sector based on a profound look at reality.

More than 200 people from 31 Jesuit social works and institutions from six different countries participated in the meeting during the four days, which included various spaces for dialogue, workshops, presentations and other activities. In addition to the presence of the Provincial of Spain and his Social Delegate, among the attendees were also the Social Delegate of Europe, as well as the Secretary for Social Justice and Ecology Xavier Jeyaraj, SJ. Throughout the meeting, two announcers have been conducting the different spaces to give a radio air to the meeting.

Imanol Zubero (University of the Basque Country) and Sabrina Burgos (Fe y Alegria Colombia) provided time for an analysis of reality, as well as motivations for a better understanding of our model of intervention, the five just causes of the sector and the interrelation between faith and justice. One of the most interesting dynamics was the joint re-reading of the more than 30 years of life of the Social Sector, which in this meeting brought together people ranging from the workers’ mission to the latest social enterprises recently launched by the sector.

The talks were interspersed with workshops on the different work teams in the sector, the thematic causes we work on or the cross-cutting projects that are being developed. The proposal also included a pilgrimage to the hospital of La Magdalena, a place of great historical relevance, where St. Ignatius stayed on his return to Azpeitia to recover his health and help sick people. For the tour it has been proposed to listen to an audio in the key of prayer and inspiration with the title ‘Caminando Voy’ (Walking I go).

During the Eucharist we were encouraged to continue “being friends of the poor in order to be friends of God” and we proposed keys that will help us expand our mission for social justice. Thus ended a meeting that has allowed us to refine our common harmony, create a united social apostolic body and dream together the horizons and hopes that will allow us to update the causes and processes of the mission in the face of the challenges posed by social reality.

Complete information about the entire meeting can be found at https://www.sintonizando2023.org/.